Members of the congregation and choir at Dewi Sant Welsh United Church in Toronto, Ontario.

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Three thousand miles away they are an ethnic minority religious group searching for a minister who speaks their indigenous language.

And the congregation in Canada is hopeful an advert here in Wales will help fill the position at the last Welsh-language church in the country.

Dewi Sant Welsh United Church in Toronto, Ontario, is believed to be one of the only churches in North America still holding services in Welsh.

The church, set up in 1907 by a man from Anglesey and another from Denbighshire, holds a Welsh service on the first Sunday evening of the month.

Reverend Eilert Frerichs, who is the interim minister said the church was searching in Wales because its priority is to find a Welsh-speaking minister.

“We want to continue and grow the Welsh culture in Toronto,” he said.

“In Ontario, there are more than 200 different languages but Welsh is said to be one of the original founding languages.”

Latest census figures for Toronto show there are around 50,000 people who identify themselves as Welsh.

“There is an active and lively Welsh united Church here and about one third of our members still speak Welsh and are bilingual,” said Rev Frerichs.

“The mission of the congregation is to be a church but also to help preserve and celebrate Welsh culture in Canada.”

He said the previous minister Reverend Deian Evans emigrated from Criccieth in Gwynedd and was minister there for six years before returning to North Wales.

“I have been an interim minister since he left in 2010 and it is a wonderful place. Unfortunately I do not speak Welsh.”

He said the church was a liberal one with a strong commitment to social justice.

“Our members fully share that commitment. We are looking for a person who would fit that kind of liberal theological condition of the United Church,” said Rev Frerichs.

“The congregation members are scattered all over the great Toronto area and a fair amount of travel that is involved.

“The congregation is [made up of] about 65 members who attend Sunday on a regular basis with another 300 or so adherents who use the church for funeral marriages and christenings.

“We have a Welsh service once a month and the regular Sunday morning service is in both English and Welsh.

“The Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir has its headquarters at Dewi Sant and our members are very much involved in the St David’s Society here in Toronto.”

However despite the significant Welsh links, he said the role would not be one that was home from home.

“Life in Wales and life in Canada is significantly different, I would say,” said Rev Frerichs.

“Toronto is Canada’s largest city and is very multicultural and that makes a huge difference to some small Welsh communities. Dewi Sant is also home to a small Korean Methodist congregation.

“I am a German minister who is now working for a Welsh-speaking congregation and I think that is indicative of the multiculturalism and how open the congregation is.

“They are a very friendly, warm and welcoming group of people.”

He said, like other immigrant groups, Welsh people struggle to maintain their cultural identity.

“That is especially true in the second and third generations, but our church is here to facilitate keeping that identity alive.

“We offer Welsh language classes and there are quite a number of people who want to learn the language.”

Welsh teacher and church member Hefina Phillips, moved to Toronto in 1981.

She said theirs was very much regarded as “an ethnic church.”

“I think that is pretty difficult for people at home in Wales to get their heads around. This church for us here in Toronto is a our home from home,” said Ms Phillips who is originally from the Swansea Valley.

“The people who attend our church, I consider to be my family and those who visit are often shocked by how close or community is.

“A TV crew, who were making a film about various ethnic groups were surprised by how close we all are.

“They started filming with the Welsh faction, but also looked at Mexicans, Romanians and others.

“They came to my house and when they were off camera, the Romanian girl started crying because she was so touched by the camaraderie and the closeness of us as a people.